Damage Estimate in Texas Hailstorm Pegged at $400M

The June 12 hail storm in Abilene, Texas, is expected to hit $400 million in insured losses to vehicles, homes and commercial property, the Insurance Council of Texas reports.

It was the second catastrophic hailstorm this city in west Texas has experienced in the past three years.

“I’ve never seen cars destroyed like this,” said Leroy Perkins of the Perkins Insurance Agency in Abilene. “This is the worst storm damage I’ve seen in my 41 years in the insurance business.”

The storm moved directly south across Abilene pounding the city’s north side and downtown area with baseball size hail. Commercial buildings downtown received millions of dollars in damage to roofs, windows and structures.

All of the windows on the north side of facilities on the Hardin Simmons University campus were reportedly knocked out and roof damage was widespread over the Abilene Christian University campus.

Perkins also reported total uninsured losses would be high.

Abilene was hit by softball size hail on Easter Sunday in 2011, according to Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas.

This year’s storm was worse, Hanna said.

“Hundreds of vehicles, many of them new cars, were declared totaled from the beating they took,” said Hanna. “Insured losses just from the damaged cars and trucks in Abilene will exceed $100 million.”

Hanna said insurance companies had responded quickly to the storm damaged city with catastrophic teams who reached out to policyholders affected by the storm.